Floating to Wellness
What is Float Therapy
Whether you float regularly for different wellness purposes or are curious to the concept, it’s great to be educated on different resources and ways to increase your overall wellness, and float therapy is a big one on that list! Float therapy is all about embracing the holistic experience by bringing wellness and relaxation to your mind, body, and spirit, benefiting a wide range of people and their needs. I am going to discuss why this is, and the many components that come together to give you the experience such as magnesium, epsom salt, water temperature, music, floating tools, and who benefits most clearly from this experience. I will begin by leading a one-minute meditation, recreating part of my floating experience for you to enjoy. I floated for my first time a few weeks ago at a local spa in Kitchener, Azure Aqua Spa that I have now partnered with to share wellness resources, information with you all with a unique code for you to get 10% off ALL of their services (including floating of course) with code: WELLNESS10.
Floating Meditation
Before we continue, let’s do a quick 1 minute mindfulness exercise while you're here, to give you an idea of the floating experience. Close your eyes, and take a few deep breaths, inhaling calm, peaceful, and weightless energy, while exhaling stress, worry and pain (recommended: 4 seconds in, 4 seconds out with a pause in between). Come back to your normal breath, but continue channeling a peaceful, serene, and weightless energy.
Imagine yourself comfortably and effortlessly floating in stillness in an environment of your choosing, where you feel safe and secure to melt your stress away and simply enjoy this beautiful moment you have now created for yourself.. slowly open your eyes and re-orient yourself with your current surroundings, and keep that joyful, stress-free energy with you here too.
Benefits of floating
Find a balance for you
Consistency is key for optimal results in anything you do, meaning the more time and energy you put into something, especially for your well being, the more results and return you will get back. Now this does not mean that you need to do everything that is good for you on a daily basis, but it means that it’s important for you to find a system that works best for you and your lifestyle. The benefits of floating vary from person to person as we are all unique, and it’s important to remain open-minded to allow the benefits to reach you, although even with a wall up, the physical and mental relaxation is unquestionable.
Reduced Gravity + Sensory
Our bodies contain close to 100 billion neurons that help us monitor important bodily functions like heart rate, blood pressure, hormone regulation, and breathing. Our bodies are constantly exerting effort into a variety of tasks throughout the day, including the on-going fight against gravity that takes a large amount of sensory attention to simply keep us in the proper posture. Float therapy is all about relieving this task from our bodies so it can focus on other things and take a well-deserved break. Reduced gravity is achieved through a large amount of medical-grade epsom salt mixed into the pools, allowing your muscles and joints to completely relax and take a mental and physical break from the pulls of gravity with the buoyancy of the salt, allowing you to float truly effortlessly. This break frees space to focus on rest, relaxation and rejuvenation, with water temperatures mimicking your internal body temperature (really warm and relaxing!) which helps your muscles relax and joints decompress naturally as well. Some spas, like Azure Aqua Spa, also include sensory relaxation through a cinematic relaxing screen and music above and below the water. The intense relaxation you feel is similar to that present during hypnosis and REM sleep so there is nothing left for your body or brain to do but fully relax in your dream-like state.
Epsom Salt + Magnesium Benefits
You can feel the benefits of the Epson salt within 15 minutes, as it helps relax muscles and relieve pain in the shoulders, neck, back, and skull, while the magnesium in Epsom salt reduces inflammation in the internal organs. Epsom salt is one of many naturally occurring mineral salts, a compound of magnesium and sulfate that can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and improve digestion. Medical experts commonly recommend Epsom salt to patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and cold intolerance, and it is also known to help strengthen the skin, scalp and hair as it is a natural exfoliator. It is very common for people to have a magnesium deficiency since it can be hard to absorb enough from our diets, so it is nice to be able to float while absorbing it through your skin. This will help remove dead skin cells and unclog your pores to leave your skin clearer and glowing, reducing blackheads and clear any breakouts. Floating may also help restore dull, frizzy, and damaged hair by stripping product buildup and restoring natural shine.
Pain, Sleep + Stress Relief
Most people, at some time or another, complain about pain in their body ranging from muscle tension and stiffness, to more severe and chronic conditions that interfere with their daily functioning and mood. Floating can help restore and refresh your senses, leaving you feeling rested and rejuvenated, plus is a natural pain killer because it evokes a relaxation response that is known to improve recovery and ease tense muscles. The mental and physical relaxation and pain relief experienced also contribute to a higher quality sleep, as these are common interferences people face. It is so important to get quality sleep on a regular basis to make sure that your brain can function at its best. Floating deactivates the stress induced “fight or flight” mode, which is a primary trigger for pain because of the hormones and inflammation. Suppressing this trigger is a great step towards reducing your physical pain and moving you closer to recovery. Since floating provides a deep sense of relaxation and inner peace, clients at Azure Aqua spa are known to schedule regular float sessions as an antidote to stress, as their suites are designed to eliminate as much external input as possible to allow you to escape the stressors of everyday life. Instead, your nervous system can focus on relaxation, healing, and replenishment to help your body and mind relieve the burden of stress with the option of meditating as well.
Additional Benefits
The many holistic benefits of floating can be enjoyed and reaped by anyone, but it is specifically known to be helpful for pregnant people and athletes. It is recommended for pregnant people because it reduces swelling, takes pressure off joints, lowers blood pressure, improves blood flow, reduces stress allowing for a deep relaxation, and promotes mom-baby bonding. It is recommended for athletes as it promotes healing, speeds recovery, reduces lactic acid build-up, pain and inflammation, reduces cortisol levels, eliminates fatigue and improves concentration, benefiting anyone who engages in physical activity and feels the physical wear and tear. Now I am going to get into some more about the process of the floating experience.
Preparation + Experience:
A large reason why I had never been open to floating before, is because I really do not appreciate being in small, confined spaces at all, and I had only seen the floating pods. While the benefits are all there, my fear of closed spaces held me back. I was so grateful to find out that Azure Aqua spa has open rooms with no barriers or restrictions, just a pool-like setting with showers and everything we needed all in an open space. That being said, both are great options, but I would highly recommend Azure to anyone, especially those who share similar concerns and want a more spa-like feel to their experience. Be sure to check in with your local space around their set up, and if it suits your needs.
When Not to Float
According to Azure Aqua spa. floating is not for you if you are taking powerful sedatives, experience seizures or incontinence, or have a perforated eardrum or inner ear disorder. Some more contraindications include having any large sores or wounds (all small cuts can be covered with provided petroleum jelly); being shaved, tanned, or waxed within the last 6 hours; having tattoo work done within the past 4-6 weeks; recent hair dye; if you are intoxicated. Let the location know in advance if you have any other concerns that you would like addressed or are unsure of beforehand. I made sure I did not shave beforehand, and had no other concerns!
Experience
Before: Plan ahead to avoid a rushed, tense experience around your float. Arrive a bit early to ensure enough time to fill out a waiver that outlines contraindications and expectations. Cover any small cuts with petroleum jelly to make sure the salt also does not sting and interrupt your relaxing float. It is also advised to avoid drinking caffeinated or sugary drinks, and stick to a smaller meal directly before your float so that you can feel the full relaxing impacts. At Azure Aqua spa, they provided me with towels, shower products, earplugs, Q-tips, bathrobes, spa slippers, and disposable briefs. You can wear your own bathing suit during the experience, or you can choose to use their disposable underwear if it is available to you.
During: After you are set up and settled in, you put your belongings in a locker, bin, or safe area and change into your robe where you will then head to the room and shower before your float. According to Azure, it’s best to slowly enter the float pool from a sitting position and slide one leg into the pool at a time and remember it is shallow. Use the provided instruments given or brought by you, in my case, using earplugs and a neck pillow plus a spray bottle with fresh water incase there were any irritations with the salt. The provided music and scenery allowed me to drift into an immediate relaxation, where I floated, weightless and carefree, enjoying the moment and time that I took to nurture and care for myself.
After: I was kindly approached with a knock on my door as the end of my float session came to be, the lights slowly brightened, and I got out of the pool, took another shower and entered back into my robe. Many peoples experience ends here with a change into their clothing, and a calming exist by staff asking about the experience, however I indulged in another one of Azure’s treatments, the Vichy Shower. After being guided from one room to the next, I layed on a covered waterproof bed, and was showered with a hose, received a full body scrub and rinse to end off the experience, it was amazing.
I would highly recommended the float experience to anyone looking to engage in self-care and further their wellness by reducing pain and stress while nourishing the mind, body and spirit. If you are local to Kitchener-Waterloo or can make it into the city, I would highly recommended Azure Aqua Spa! My experience was so lovely and deeply relaxing that afterwards, I knew I had to share it with this community. I called to connect with the owner to let them know about my experience and inquired around a special offering for this community - so please enjoy 10% off of ANY service with the unique code WELLNESS10 just for you!
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog! All information used was based off personal experience and resources from https://azureaquaspa.com/
